A new type of party is spreading on the leadership floor – could it be something for you?

Every workday there is a party, and when you are a leader, it is a very particular party. Maybe it is not always a party you want to be a part of, but a party nonetheless.

Syndicate’s party correspondent has been in the field, and has returned with a report of two extreme, yet very symbolically representative parties on the leadership floor.
We looked through the windows into the traditional experience of what it is like being a leader, and then we took a sneak peek at the party of the future, which looks totally different.

Have a read and judge for yourself which party that looks the most like your weekday – and get practical advice to how you plan your own party, so you can have the best days of partying in your life.

The traditional party

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You know the traditional leadership party inside and out – in its extreme form from movies, books and television, but likely also from your own experiences. On the guest list to the traditional we have ‘the lone wolf’, ‘the chosen one’, ‘the specialist’, and all their friends from school. The invitation includes a promise of power and career (AKA prestige and capital), and it is clearly written between the lines that life is a contest that you can win by staying until closing time.
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The organizers entice you by promising that, as a party participant, you will have the responsibility for your very own silo, and the party truly reaches its ultimate climax when you can start telling others what to do and think.
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If you have the need to demonstrate your worth by creating results that are measured and achieved individually, then this is where you should go, preferably in a serious (read: we do not have fun), powerful, and secretive attire.
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With italics at the bottom of the invite (and sometimes in invisible ink), individuals that do not describe themselves as robust or resilient are discouraged from attending.

Sensitive people that put others’ well-being at the forefront, while abiding by the indecent motto; that it has to be fun to go to work, can attend at their own responsibility. It is understandable that you want to come, but you are simply too delicate to stomach this party, and it would not be enjoyable for anyone if we were to try to include you.
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If you stand outside the venue of the party, and press your nose flat against the window, you will observe a group of people that see themselves as born “thinkers” for the crowd of “doers” that are standing outside the venue.

They indifferently turn a blind eye to any bad news. If there is a problem, they will look for someone to blame, and they deliver very few results even though they are working hard to fulfill 10 different agendas at once.

You are looking at a type of 'Jack-of-all-trades" that never really excel at anything, because they are too busy administrating. They keep the cards close to the vest, and when challenges arise, these guests at this party solve them by working even harder.

The new party

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Instead of standing there with your nose against the cold, shiny  window and feeling empty inside about the oversold event that is the traditional leadership party, you can go to the other side of the leadership floor and look for the future leadership party.
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At the leadership party of the future, there are some entirely different guests on the doorman’s list. Here, you will find ‘the caring hero’ in different attires, but they all have in common that they have an eye for the bigger picture, and helping others put their strengths into play.
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The invite entices you by telling you that you, as a participant, can affect others and make a positive difference for a lot of people, and have a work life that feels meaning. It is explicitly stated that all those who attend, does not become winners until everyone is successful.
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At the party, you will design a beneficial environment and set clear goals, and that work will put your organization on the map as one of the best workplaces in the country. If you personally need to generate motivation and job satisfaction in order to feel gratified, go to this party, and embody a creative, caring and approachable servant leadership.
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This party is open to everyone, and on the invitation it says that even if you have a need to be in charge and in control, or if you can’t live without power or status, you are still welcome – it might be where you find that there other things in life that can give you that spark.
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If you dare look in the window, you will see a group of individuals that support and coach their coworkers and seek out and challenge bad news. When there are problems, the partygoers take shared ownership of it, and create results by focusing on 1 agenda at a time. You will see some professional and focuses leaders that are really skilled at the different elements of leadership, and can focus on becoming even better, because they help each other and delegate administration.

There is transparency about everything, and when challenges arise, the partygoers of this new party solve these by prioritizing, learning and improving.

Plan your own leadership party

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If you are in a organization of average or large size in Denmark, your leadership party probably looks most like the traditional one, but perhaps you are not a total stranger to the new way of partying. Maybe you are actually waiting with bated breath to be invited to the “new leadership party”?

Here, Syndicate’s field reporter will have to disappoint, because when you ask the leaders about the new party, the answer is that this invitation won’t just find itself in your mailbox all on its own.
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Like any major life event, you have to take initiative and join in on organizing the festivities. There are many people who choose to hire a party planner (on the leadership floor, these are called ‘coaches’), but you and your leadership colleagues are perfectly capable of planning a great leadership party by yourself.
Below, I have written a few practical tips for how you can start a great new leadership party.  

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Stop…

… Meetings where you give individual status, for example about how far your department has come on a given project, or how much you have spent on a given budget. It feels like a waste of time. Give that status in writing, or directly to your leader, if it is important.

… Having all leaders make the same (administrative) task from scratch, like for instance filling out or reporting on a budget, or making performance reviews of their coworkers. It is inefficient to do the same piece of work again and again. Select one of you to develop a concept, work in parts, and give each other input.
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… Bilateral task allocation to you from your leader, where you are told in private that you have to restructure a process or start a new one. It removes transparency, and places the responsibility on one of you (in reality, the project/process will span several departments/teams). Have a shared list of assignments, and take them on depending on interest and surplus capacity.
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…’How-assignments’, i.e. assignments where the solution has been dictated beforehand. It is demotivating to be dictated – for you as a leader (by your own leader) and your coworkers both. Make sure to have assignments be about value and ‘why’ – ask it of your own leader – and set aside time to design good solutions.
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…’Zero mistake culture’ where we point the finger and put the heaven and the earth into motion in order to install control mechanisms to avoid similar mistakes. That only creates fear and lessens innovation. Be the example, by sharing your own mistakes, avoiding making problems personal, and having an ongoing dialogue to generate insight.

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Start developing…

… Common goals and priorities in the leadership group. When you know what you have in common, you will have a much stronger standing – it means less loneliness, and more and better resources for every single task.
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… Intelligent allocation of tasks between you in the leadership group. Most tasks that you handle on your own today, you can actually collaborate on. And if you discover that you each have a preference for different types of tasks, you will – by dividing the tasks between you – get so much more energy from the total workload, as well as practice and become even better at what you love to work with.
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… Transparency about what you do. When you are not in doubt of what is going on, life becomes so much easier – it becomes possible, and oftentimes more natural, to coordinate and discuss priorities than if we are in each others’ way.
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… Division of responsibility and roles that match your unique competences and wants. Some people love Excel, and others love getting up on stage and talking to a gathering. We are all different, and that difference in ’wants’ are often (but not always) connected to ‘competence’, so why not find out what each of you want, and then actively work on that?
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… Step-by-step and experimental approach to tasks. You cannot predict what will work, so lower your expectations, take one step at a time, and view each step as an experiment that simply helps you adjust towards something better (or provides valuable insights into what doesn't work).
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… Meetings that support prioritization, transparency, collaboration, learning, and improvement. Time together is crucial - allocate time to talk about your priorities, what you are working on and thinking, where you can collaborate, where you can learn from the past, and where you can plan for improvements.

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Practice…

… Recognizing your colleagues' strengths and utilizing them. They possess skills and abilities that you don't have - if you can see the uniqueness in each other and leverage it, you will go much further together.
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… Building and demonstrating trust. There are plenty of reasons not to trust anyone, so if you don't actively decide to build trust, nothing will happen - after all, despite all good intentions, you won't delegate a task to a colleague you don't trust, will you?!
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… Demonstrating curiosity. When you are curious about others' experiences and situations, you learn a lot of useful things.
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For instance:
1. To realize that it had nothing to do with you after all.
2. That there was a good reason, which you had no chance of seeing.
3. That the other person is willing to listen to you and make corrections.
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… [insert whatever gives you energy]. The more time you spend on what you find exciting and what makes you eager to work and learn, the better you become at everything.
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Congratulations - it should actually be fun to go to work because it's good for the bottom line. In the end, all that's left is to wish you:

Have a great party!

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